1935 Fire Truck Carries Supplies

August 28, 1992|Staff reports

While Dade County hurricane victims were relieved to get supplies from Palm Beach County, some also might have been shocked at one of the vehicles used in the effort.

John Hiscock, of Lake Worth, and Ray Warren, of Jupiter, loaded up a 1935 red convertible-top fire truck with more than 500 gallons of water and joined a seven-truck convoy traveling from the South Florida Fairgrounds to decimated neighborhoods in Homestead. The duo, both 59, said the 57-year-old truck can do 50 mph.

Hiscock said the truck has been all over the country aiding the injured and handicapped since he bought it from the East Hampton, Long Island, Fire Department in 1977.

Although the open cab offered little protection, they said they weren`t worried about reports of sniper fire. ``We`ve taken this all over the country,`` Hiscock said. ``We`ve been volunteers for 35 years.``

-- Palm Beach County not only will provide temporary housing for homeless people who survived Hurricane Andrew, but also will provide shelter for homeless animals from Miami Metrozoo.

On Thursday, Lion Country Safari staff members loaded up several animals from Metrozoo and took them to Lion Country Safari, west of West Palm Beach. Officials say that staff members from Lion Country have been helping at Metrozoo since Tuesday.

To make sure that animals have enough food, some local pet shops are collecting supplies. Frank Mulrooney, of Neptune Pet Center in Lantana, is collecting all kinds of food for animals, bagged food or canned food.

-- Sally Stewart, owner of Boca Laser, wanted to do something for the victims of Hurricane Andrew. ``I didn`t know what to do,`` she said.

But then on Tuesday after one of her customers asked if she was making T- Shirts, the idea for I Survived Hurricane Andrew T-shirts was born.

Stewart says she will give all her profits from the shirts, printed in red and black, to victims of Hurricane Andrew. The shirts are selling for $9.95. ``The more shirts we make, the more profits we can donate.``

So far, sales are going through the roof.

``We made 50 shirts because we didn`t know what would happen,`` Stewart said. ``They`re gone. We now have orders for eight dozen more.``

-- Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Jackie Winchester had to stand in line on Thursday morning, as Budget Rent-A-Car was leasing its trucks on a first-come first-served basis.

Winchester needed a truck so that two of her employees could take it to Dade County, where they will help elections officials in distributing polling equipment for Tuesday`s voting.

Meanwhile, workers at Winchester`s office saw no purpose in sending an empty truck to the disaster-struck area, so they brought in food, water and other relief supplies to offer their Dade counterparts.

-- The Professional Firefighters of Delray Beach are acting as a clearinghouse for information on housing for Metro-Dade firefighters and paramedics who have been displaced by Hurricane Andrew.

Calls are coming in from Delray Beach Fire-Rescue workers who are willing to share their homes with their counterparts from Dade.

Doug Vaughn, who is helping to organize the effort, says the firefighters are focusing on housing for other firefighters and paramedics.

``We are helping our own, and hope that other people will take care of their own. If everybody did that, we could take a bite out of what`s happening down there,`` he said. ``Don`t get me wrong: we won`t turn anyone away, but we`ll try to turn them over to other agencies, if we find anyone else doing this.``

People interested in participating should call the fire department at 243-7491, or call Vaughn at 736-1478, or pager 936-7399.

-- Rumors abounding around the state had employees of the state Division of Motor Vehicle Compliance seeing red.

Compliance officers, the rumor went, were stopping and grounding convoys of trucks carrying relief supplies because the trucks were overweight.

Nothing could be further from the truth, said Ann Drawdy of the division`s office in Greenacres.

``That really ticks me off to hear something like that,`` she said. ``I don`t know how something like that could get started.``

In fact, the division`s officers, who inspect trucks for compliance with safety and weight rules, have mobilized to go to Dade County themselves to help with the relief effort, she said.

The rumor had been repeated on a Jacksonville television station, Orlando radio stations and in other areas, Drawdy said.

Locally, it had a convoy of trucks from Tallahassee taken off the road at the Boca Raton interchange on Florida`s Turnpike.

``We don`t even have anybody working in that area,`` she said. ``All weight stations south of Orlando have been told to wave everybody through who is carrying relief supplies.``

And if there is any question, she said, the rule of thumb is to ``look the other way`` during the emergency.